April 19, 2010; No Harvest Monday

No harvest for me this past week, although I have been using up as much as I can of last year's canned and frozen foods. We opened the last bag of yellow crookneck squash, ate an entire pint of salsa, added a jar of tomato sauce to the meatloaf, had relish on our burgers. If you had a Monday harvest, be sure to add your link at Daphne's Dandelions.

Even though I have nothing to harvest yet, it has been a busy week. Most of my tomatoes and all of my peppers have now been "up-potted". I probably could have left them in the soil blocks until planting time, but they were getting pretty good root systems. I decided to get them into the 16 ounce plastic cups to give them some wiggle room.

Thirty-five peppers and forty tomatoes.

I also transplanted others (mini bell pepper, basil, eggplant and dwarf tomatoes) into containers, along with some flower seedlings (alyssum, tiny marigolds and ?). The "?" seedlings came from the box of "at least 100 pelleted impatiens seeds" that sprouted a total of six plants, five of which I'm sure are NOT impatiens. What a disappointment, as the mixed color impatiens were to be my main flower this year. Well, I planted all six, so we'll see what happens. One looks like a weed, one looks like an impatiens, and four look like alyssum...no, I didn't get the seeds mixed up.

Various plants in pots.

I have seedlings spread all over the back yard. Most of them are being left out day and night now, only the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil get brought in for the evening.

More tomatoes, and odds and ends of seedlings.

Flowers hardening off in the garden.

Cabbages & hollyhocks.

The larger cabbage plants, four Gonzales (mini-cabbages but larger seedlings than the other varieties), were planted yesterday with three marigolds from my saved seed. Today I transplanted all of the broccoli, which gives me a total of six each Calabrese and Waltham, and one De Cicco. The Contender bush beans have been planted along the edge of the indeterminate tomato bed, and pole beans will be planted in the kennel garden tomorrow, weather permitting. I was going to plant dry pole beans in the half-barrels, but changed my mind and planted sweet corn in them. I'll utilize the pea patch for the dry beans, after the peas are harvested. I also prepared a large pot for planting a bush cucumber in the kennel garden, where it can climb on the chain link fencing. I'll probably take a chance on planting it early this year.

Granny - you're getting to be a pro at growing transplants from seed. Over half of my seedlings were drowned by dear wife that decided to help me pot up about a week ago. :-( Hey! I told her it was too much, but you know she always knows more than me. hehe...

********Oh, no EG. I'm sorry to hear that. I killed of a few flower seedlings by drowning them, and one pepper plant that I only had two of to start with. It sure s easy to overdo the water. On the other hand, I almost lost my marigolds because they got too dry and wilted, but they got watered just in time.

********SB, when I was bringing them all in at night, I was sure getting my exercise! I hope our 40+ nights continue, with no cold snaps.

My tomatoes are not doing as well as they did last year. I potted them up early and set them outside when it was still kind of cool (in the 40s at night) and it seems to have stunted their growth. They're still alive though...just small. Great post!

Kalena Michele, mine aren't as sturdy and stocky as they were last year, either. I think it is because they spent so much time under the lights inside the plastic mini-greenhouse, and it stayed too warm for them. They grew tall and spindly rather than stocky. Last year they were in the garage, and I wasn't afraid they'd freeze, so I didn't keep them shut in so much. Once I began bringing these plants outside in the daytime and into an unheated shed at night, they started getting stronger.

The impatiens seed sounds like it was a real dissappointment. Everything else looks like it is going gangbusters though. I planted up the primary tomato patch on Sunday but still have some container tomatoes to plant and need to repot the remaining tomatoes that will eventually be given away.

I love your transplants. I always wondered about all of that frozen/canned food and if you brought it to AZ with you or not. Seems like you'd never get through it before you started racking in some more!

My tomatoes look like yours! I transplanted 8 into the garden 2 weeks ago, but am still hoarding about 20 more in case I put the others out too early, LOL! My seed swap party is Saturday so I can get rid of a few there, 4 more for me, and the rest will go to the Master Gardener sale in May. They will probably have blossoms on them by the time the sale gets here :)!

That is a buttload of seedlings you have growing there. I'm hoping all my pepper seeds that I individually germinated come up. That would give me 32 peppers and chilis. I'm hoping for 40 tomato plants, some of which will get planted here and some at the new place. But they aren't up yet.

Ellada, hello! Yes, I tend to my seedlings like they were my babies, and I'm always relieved when they grow up big and strong.

********Lou Murray, there are actually more than forty tomato plants, some were in the photo of the containers and others on the patio table that is set up behind the garden shed. No, there is no way I could use (or grow) all of them. I will probably grow 18 at the most, and my neighbor has (again)given me permission to plant on her side of the fence, so I can probably put a half dozen determinates there. All the rest will be given away. I will, however plant most of the peppers. My kids love them, so they are easy to get rid of if I can't use them all.

********Ribbit, I won't be preserving so much this year, as I have a lot left over from 2009. Mr. H has suddenly developed a taste for beer and tomato juice, though...that's an easy one.

********Jan,that's good to know. Impatiens do so well here, and I love the vibrant colors. I'll have to buy some from the nursery, but I'm happy to hear I can extend them with cuttings. Thank you!

********Erin, I'm going to plant a few of mine early, as I have enough to fall back on if they don't survive. Our weather is really looking good for the rest of April though, so I think maybe next week.

********Daphne, I said I wouldn't start so many this year....but I did. and I'll probably do it next year, too. There will always be somebody wanting free plants.

********Meredith, I won't be planting all of them (and there are more than forty, that's just how many were on that cart). I'll still plant more than I can use, but I know of a lot of non-gardeners that will help me eat them all. We have a low income apartment facility in our town, and I like to take fresh veggies there for them to enjoy. Most of them are mentally challenged, and not able to do a lot for themselves. They love the fresh tomatoes.

Lots going on in your yard! Your tomato & peppers look great. I just started my tomatoes a few days ago and they are just starting to germinate now. Decided to go with small tomato transplants this year.

Bummer about the impatients. I tried them from seed for the first time this year. The burgundy ones germinated great the purple ones germinated so-so. Did you sow them on top of the soil with covering?

Hocking Hills, this was my first year to start flowers from seed. I had saved my favorite marigold seeds from my 2008 garden, and I was really happy that I had better than 50% germination from that old seed, and really strong stocky plants. I'll be much more careful with my seed gathering this fall, as I certainly want more of those marigolds!

**********Dan, mine came in a box for $4.99. It was pelleted seed mixed with seed starter medium, that was supposed to be scattered over the surface. I filled a flat with Jiffy seed starter, and sprinkled the mix over the top. Kept it covered and domed, but only got six sprouts from the entire flat, and only one looks like an impatiens. Too bad I didn't save the box and the receipt. My twenty cent packets of flower seeds from American Seeds all sprouted beautifully, so it's not that you get what you pay for. In fact, my 20-cent packets of everything I bought (American Seeds from the dollar store) have grown great!